Test Drive 370z
 

Its Presidents Day, the markets are closed, and I decided to take the day off from making the world safe for capitalism and drive the new 370z. Thankfully a local dealer had a blue one with the sport package so I could test the syncro-rev feature. We had a chance to thrash the car a bit, hit some bumpy roads and cruise on the highway, so I got a pretty good feel for the car in pretty much every driving condition.

My overall impression was very positive. Aside from the lack of backseats, this is the best budget performance car on the market. I’ve driven the current competition (135i,WRX,Boxster) and it trounces them in handling, power, ride quality and finish. The looks are subjective, I like it a lot better in person than in the pics, it really looks like a modern 240z that wants to eat you. Comparing it to the RX8 is almost unfair given the age difference and power deficiency, but its handling is certainly up to par with the RX8 and I really like the heavier but accurate steering feel. Nissan really took the 350z fixed what was broke and made the good things even better

The car handles bumps very well, it feels like a G37 on rough roads, but then stiffens well in the twistys. The car corners flat and feels as wide and low as it looks. I never had it so far out on the edge that I was worried about it breaking loose, but you can really power through the corners without even activating the VDSC. I can’t really see a reason to upgrade the sport suspension except for an extreme track rat as the ride quality, handling and wheel gap is near perfect.

The power delivery is much the same as the old car, a lot of torque where every you want it, it pulls in 6th gear, launches from 2nd with out compliant and makes entering a freeway an opportunity for felony endeavors :) The exhaust note is less coarse than the older car, but could stand to be a bit louder. The syncro-rev feature is as cool as it sounds, it makes downshifting an after thought, and its so fast it seems near magical. The car is a great heal toe drive without this feature, but it gives you in some way the best parts of a true manual with some of the quickness of a DSG paddle style setup. I’d definitely use this at the track as I know my own driving skill limits and this makes you look like a rock star.

The interior materials are light years ahead of the old car and on par with the 8, the navigation system is very bright, detailed and accurate, I don’t like the design of that little gauge on the left that everyone complains about, but it is readable in the day time which the magazines were kinda concerned about.

Overall, I would say enthusiasts owe Nissan a debt of gratitude; they have made amazing performance affordable, and raised the bar for the competition. I can’t wait to see how Mazda responds to this. I’m looking forward to driving the Genesis coupe for comparison as well.

Back to trying to save the financial system I guess.

nice write up

Interesting review. If I was in the market for a 2 seat sports car, this would be high on my list.

Very "fair and balanced" review brillo. I too think it's closer to the 240Z heritage than most of its modern sucessors.

very nice write up.

yeaah, i've read nothing but good things about the synchro-rev. which is nice. but its also nice taht it can be deactivated. i wouldnt mind having a 370.

awesome post brillo. unbiased=win

Now if they could just heat that car up over 2000 degrees and bang on it until it's shaped like something that isn't as ugly as a Pontiac Aztek's sports car step child crossed with an insect, then I'll be interested!!!!

However I agree that what that car can do makes it a great value for the money. It's still ugly as sin though.

I think it looks awesome and if I could trade in my 8 for it i would haha

I may have been stretching it with the Aztek reference. I'd sure hate to insult the Pontiac!!!


FWIW: Alan (Brillo) knows I was only going to get on here to have a little fun with his non biased writeup. Someone has to be the buzzkill!

Nice write up. I saw a bright red one on the street this weekend and it looked much better in person than I thought. It stood out from the rest of the cars when I spotted it coming towards me from far away. Overall shape looked Porsche-like form a distance front and rear. I was never close enough (except briefly as it was going the opposite direction) to fully judge the looks. Basic shape seems much better looking overall than the 350 as it now has some curves.

sure its good writing- made you all believe he actually drove the thing:)

The new Z looks a lot better than the old one, but I still don't think it's exactly pretty.

I too thought it was ugly until I saw one locally and had a chance to look at it. It's a good looking car and the Nismo kit realy makes it pop. It will be high on my list.

nice write up.
absolutely hideous looking car.

i like the catfish mouth- but then i dont mind the aztek

I'm glad to see another manufacturer staying with the sport coupe during these times but I still wouldn't buy it. Guess I'm just a rotorhead, so anything else short of a M3 looks ordinary to me. But the new Z is pretty ugly IMO.

As for the synchro-rev..I'm old school=I like to be the one responsible for executing precise (or at least attempting to) heel-toes on the track.

Nice review !
The styling is starting to grow on me. I like everything about it except for the 2 teeth in the front bumper. If I can find out that they are functional in smoothing air flow then I will like them, but as cosmetic pieces they are ugly.
And I initially hated the syncro-matching system until I found out that it could be turned off. I guess I would be nice to have once in a while.
If this car was 3000lbs it would be perfect.
I hope Mazda can answer !

nice write up. i was on ebay looking at some vintage tamiya model kits and came across one of 280zx that i had and built when i was a little kid, and i remembered how much i liked the z back then. it's good to hear that z34 is as good as it is and that they fixed the deficiencies of z33. however, this also at the same time make it that much sadder that it looks so tragically fugly that i'll probably never want one. i did see one a while ago on the road, and it didn't look as bad as the photos. its overall shape is pretty spot-on, but the details are hideous. i suppose a tasteful body kit may fix that

disagree here.

Nice write-up. I like the looks/specs of this car, and usually I'm not a Nissan fan.

How was your test drive?

Thats cold man, cold :)

It's really disappointing that they made a totally new model, with all different body panels compared to the 350z, and that's the best they could come up with. I mean the 350z was a copy of the Audi TT, and now they have tried to tack on some 240Z looking parts. It just doesn't work.... it's like trying to mix seafood and chocolate.

It sounds like mechanically it's the car I had hoped the 350z would have been, it's just a damn shame they couldn't make the same improvments for the styling. I remember Nissan released some of the concept drawings for the 350z, some looked totally different and much better. It's sad to think was could have been, especially from the company that created the Z32.

Great review Brillo, like you mentioned in your write up, it does look like a modern day 240Z. At first I honestly didn't like the look , especially the shark fang tooth look up front, but in person it actually goes well with the car. The 370Z looks so much better in person than the Genesis Coupe:puke:.

The dimensions of the car is just right, my favorite part of the car has to be that wide Porsche-esc rear end, I can't wait to see somebody put some 11" wide wheels/tire combo back there on a lowered stance, I think its going to look so tuff!

I got to sit in one at the auto show this past weekend and I really like the interior . The interior just kind of stood out nicely . Its a nice looking car , all in all .